Creature

Contents

Details

Creatures are probably the most common spell and permanents (except lands) played in the game. The Creature summon is used to summon Creatures to take the offense and reduce your opponent's life points. Creatures can also be used for blocking your life count as well as using special abilities.

The box with two numbers in the lower right corner of a creature are its power and the toughness. The number to the left of the box is the creature's power, which tells you how much damage that creature deals. The number to the right, its toughness, is how much damage the creature can take before it's be destroyed.

In the first turn that you cast a creature it suffers from Summoning Sickness ( it can't attack or use tap abilities), though in your next turn Summoning Sickness wears off. A creature with Summoning Sickness can still block if it is untapped. The Haste ability allows creatures to attack or use activated abilities the turn they are played.

There are special creatures that are also artifacts, which are called called Artifact Creatures. They are affected by anything that affects creatures and/or artifacts. They also have effects too.

Tokens

There are certain creatures that are represented by tokens, called Creature Tokens, these are treated the same as creatures. Tokens in a game are often represented by a facedown card or there are also token creatures such as soldier. They can range from small 1/1 creatures, to large, expensive creatures, such as Mirror-Sigil Sergeant.

Tokens go to the graveyard as do regular creatures, and are removed as a "state-based effect" when a player gets priority again. They stay in the graveyard long enough to trigger abilities, like the one of Soulcatchers' Aerie, before they are removed.

In casual play, people generally don’t bother putting the token (coin/piece of paper/dice) in the graveyard because it’s removed right after, but it’s supposed to be put in the graveyard. Read more about this and other State-Based Effects in the Comprehensive Rulebook, section 420.

There are many types of creatures. Look just below the picture, and it will say, "Creature - " and then a creature type. Common creature types are Humans, Zombies, Merfolk, and birds. Some VERY powerful creature types are Eldrazi, Angels, Dragons, Shapeshifters, and Wurms. They usually have common abilities such as Flying, which can be common but extremely dangerous. Dragons, Birds, and Angels almost always have Flying, for instance. These creatures do not necessarily have large power or toughness, but they can have deadly abilities.

Influence

Ally

Most of the time, your creatures being what they are doesn't really matter; most of the time, you could get through a game without knowing exactly what your cards where. But there are cards that are different, like creatures called allies. They mostly have abilites that say something happens when allies enter the battlefield. Some, like Stonework Puma, have no Ally abilities. Yet, they still help trigger when another ally enters the battlefield.

Natural Abilities

Cards like Baneslayer Angel, have abilites that Protect themselves, "Protection from X". X can be a certain color or type of creature, instant, enchantment, artifact, land or sorcery. So now and then, the type of creature really is needed. Also, Magic cards use "natural" instincts, meaning that angels and dragons and birds will usually have flying, or spiders naturally have reach.

302.1. A player who has priority may cast a creature card from his or her hand during a main phase of his or her turn when the stack is empty. Casting a creature as a spell uses the stack. (See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”)

302.2. When a creature spell resolves, its controller puts it onto the battlefield under his or her control.

302.3. Creature subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Creature — Human Soldier,” “Artifact Creature — Golem,” and so on. Creature subtypes are also called creature types. Creatures may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3m for the complete list of creature types.

Example: “Creature — Goblin Wizard” means the card is a creature with the subtypes Goblin and Wizard.

302.4. Power and toughness are characteristics only creatures have.

302.4a A creature’s power is the amount of damage it deals in combat.

302.4b A creature’s toughness is the amount of damage needed to destroy it.

302.4c To determine a creature’s power and toughness, start with the numbers printed in its lower right corner, then apply any applicable continuous effects. (See rule 613, “Interaction of Continuous Effects.”)

302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

302.7. Damage dealt to a creature by a source with neither wither nor infect is marked on that creature (see rule 119.3). If the total damage marked on that creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action (see rule 704). All damage marked on a creature is removed when it regenerates (see rule 701.12, “Regenerate”) and during the cleanup step (see rule 514.2).